November 8, 2011

It’s common knowledge that the most surprising discoveries are those made completely by accident. Today I’m able to present the successful and exciting result of what seemed like a tragic slip-up. The short back story has a little to do with buying grains in bulk and a lot to do with the fact that I should really write things down so I don’t forget. The end of the story is that I came home with some buckwheat groats and had no idea what to do them, or even what to make of them, and almost hit a proverbial wall.

I’m pretty new to buying and using whole grains, so I was standing in front of a small bag of buckwheat groats and feeling like I might as well be looking at pictures of previously unexplored alien landscapes. Thank goodness, though, for both the internet and the abundance of talented, creative cooks out there. When I found a recipe for raw buckwheat porridge, I stopped in my tracks. Firstly, YUM porridge. Secondly, raw food! I’ve always been curious of raw food but my love of baking always drove me in the opposite direction. I soaked the groats, which was an adventure because they get slimy and downright funky feeling but I read that it’s totally normally, and sallied forth, blending all the ingredients together.

The final product was definitely interesting. I liked the taste but I would need a bit of time to get used to the texture. Since I wasn’t thrilled by the texture, I decided to heat it up because my food texture issues dramatically decrease with an increase in temperature (and I really wanted to like it). In heating it up, however, the buckwheat porridge BAKED! The texture was very similar to baked quinoa, which makes sense. I wasn’t a huge fan of the raw porridge, but I love the baked version! I ended up devouring the baked buckwheat porridge and going back for seconds, smothered in jam and almonds. I can’t wait to bake this porridge with pumpkin puree, or peanut butter, or chocolate! Happy Breakfast Tuesday, and cheers to new and exciting discoveries!

Notes: Like most porridge recipes, buckwheat porridge is super easy to customize. I added 1 ½ teaspoons orange zest and ¼ teaspoon cardamom to my first batch, but plan on making different batches with combinations of different ingredients, like pumpkin, cinnamon, coconut, almonds, jam, peanut butter, raisins, and chocolate. In place of the honey, you could use any other liquid sweetener of choice, like maple or agave syrup.

Ingredients:

2 cups raw buckwheat groats

1 ¼ cups milk (regular or nondairy)

¼ cup honey

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. In a large bowl, combine groats and 4 cups water. Soak at least one hour or overnight.

2. Rinse groats 2 to 3 times using a fine metal sieve. Set a half cup of groats aside.

3. In another large bowl or food processor, combine the rest of the soaked groats, milk, honey, salt, vanilla and spices or zest of your choice. Blend all ingredients together.

4. To serve raw, simply scoop into bowls and top with toppings of choice. To serve baked or slightly baked, microwave individual servings for a little less than a minute.

Store leftover porridge refrigerated and in an airtight container up to a week.